Meeting Abstract
Color change in diverse animal species serves many ecological functions, including social signaling, camouflage, and thermal regulation. The green anole lizard, Anolis carolinensis, is one species that exhibits physiological color change, rapidly changing between bright green and dark brown in response to both external environmental cues and social stimuli. In this study, we tested whether there are sex differences in the relationships between body color and temperature, and body color and social behavior. We first examined how anole body color change may be influenced by thermoregulation on different types of substrates. We conducted field work on anole populations near San Antonio, Texas, where we noted lizard behavior, body color, and substrate type. We then captured each lizard, and immediately measured internal body temperature and body size. Our results demonstrate no relationship between body temperature and body color for either sex, suggesting that thermoregulation is likely not a primary reason for color change. We also used field observational data to assess whether the rate of social display behaviors is associated with the rate of body color changes, and the proportion of time the lizards were green. Overall, males were more likely to be green than females, and males changed their body color more frequently during social interactions. Our findings demonstrate the importance of dynamic body color in green anole ecology, and the differing roles that color may play between sexes.
